Rating: 
Summary: J-Lo in an Apron?
Review: This is based on the old Cinderella theme. J-Lo plays a maid in a hotel in Manhatten, meets an Assemblyman played by Ralph Finnes but pretends to be someone else, gets found out, loses job but Ralph finds her and they fall in love - ah sweet. J-Lo is not a bad actress but Ralph Finnes is rubbish - how does he get the parts? Does he tell the taxman he's an actor? Natasha Richardson plays a stereotypical English snob (what, never!) and Bob Hoskins as a non-part, doesn't really contribute anything to the story. Seems that some parts of the story were edited out - there always seems to be something missing. Not too bad but not worth buying unless your a big J-Lo fan.
Rating: 
Summary: An Instant Classic
Review: Maid in Manhattan is a gem, a romantic comedy destined to be one of the classics. The story of a hotel maid who accidentally meets an aspiring senator and contrives to have him believe she is actually a wealthy hotel guest harkens back to the romantic comedies of the 1940's. Indeed, Liam Neeson is a modern-day Cary Grant in this film. The movie, in addition to all the fun, points out serious issues of class and race differences. And in a very touching way, the movie asks us to take a look at ourselves: our jobs, our lives, and to ask ourselves, are we holding back from our dreams because we have been taught that this is as far as we can go? Maid in Manhattan is inspiring to anyone who has looked wistfully at a star, but did not believe she deserved to try to reach it. Bob Hoskins turns in a wonderful performance as a hotel butler. He has some of the best lines in the film.
Rating:
Summary: Jlo in a Cinderella story
Review: Jennifer Lopez stars in this predictable romantic film as a single mother who leaves the mean streets each day to work as a maid in a classy Manhattan hotel. Ralph Fiennes plays a Senatorial candidate who stays at the hotel, mistakes her for a wealthy guest, and falls for her. Of course, Cinderella's ball gown turns back into a pumpkin, but true love prevails, and the two become a couple. This is the first time I have seen Jennifer Lopez on screen, and I was delighted with her. She is comfortable in front of the camera, dazzlingly pretty, and generally does a very good job of playing the heart-of-gold maid who ends up in management. The little boy who plays Lopez's gifted and sensitive son is a real winner! I hope we see more of him in the future. Fans of JLo will enjoy her winning performance in "Maid in Manhattan," but others will find it a predictable and lightweight movie.
Rating:
Summary: Maid in Manhattan
Review: Maid in Manhattan DVD ~ Jennifer Lopez is your average romatic comedy and I love it for being this. There is no social comentary, no pretense and loads of fun. 5/5.
Rating: 
Summary: "Maid in Manhattan"
Review: A very pleasant surprise, Maid in Manhattan, brings to the screen exactly what the title implies: the story of a hotel maid that crosses paths with an affluent political candidate, and end up falling in love with each other.
I have to admit that I did not know what to expect from the film, but as it turns out it was a very pleasant and entertaining movie!
It is a film about human relations, hope and second chances, but most importantly about trust, love, and inner strength.
Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, and the rest of the cast, have outdone themselves with their performances, which are exceptional to say the least. All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows (the chemistry is AMAZING)! Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide more than just a few laughs, not to mention a few tears. The film is simple enough, but does a great job of describing people's every day lives and the problems they face. It just goes to show that simplicity is often far better than complexity, when trying to present issues of a human nature.
In short, Maid in Manhattan is a movie definitely worth watching!
Rating: 
Summary: 2.5 Stars is more appropriate
Review: My wife wanted to see this because her 70+ grandmother thought it was the greatest movie since slice bread. So we had to watch it. It wasn't as bad as I thought is was going to be. The movie was very predictable. No surprise, but still kept my attention. Jennifer Lopez is in her element playing a working class mom, opposed to upper-class Italians (Wedding Planner) or ballroom teachers (Shall We Dance?). Ralph Feines added a touch of class to the movie. Natasha Richardson provided the only humor in the movie. The little kid was pretty good. For J.Lo fans, she looked amazing towards the end.
All in all, nothing new or groundbreaking, but maybe it's a movie
to watch when there's nothing else on.
Rating:
Summary: This one grows on you
Review: When I first watched it I though well it was okay. Then I saw it again on tv and it began to grow on me . I can't say it is the best film ever made . but it is not bad. I would only watch it if I was in the mode that the film sets (which i can best describe as hopeful , ) It does give that off set of reality .You know where it is a happy ever after.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty much predictable all the way...
Review: In stark contrast to the previously reviewed Achilles' Love, this film is a polished romantic comedy. Maid in Manhattan stars Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes as the main characters in what is effectively a reworking of several other "rom-coms". It borrows elements from Working Girl and Pretty Woman whilst being fundamentally derived from the eternal Cinderella story.
Marisa Ventura (Lopez) is a maid in a very upmarket Manhattan hotel. Whilst she is highly dedicated and prides herself on delivering excellent service, she is certainly not servile. Egged on by her closest friend Stephanie, Marisa dons the Dolce & Gabbana outfit of Caroline Lane - a spoiled Sotheby's Director staying at the hotel (played by Natasha Richardson). As might be expected, the fates collude to having another guest at the hotel call on Caroline's room just as Marisa is testing out the haute couture.
This guest is none other than Assemblyman Chris Marshall (Fiennes), who is immediately smitten by the high-class vision before him. Chris convinces Marisa to accompany him on a dog-walking mission through Central Park and so begins a romantic comedy of errors. Marissa is mistaken as the aspiring Senator's new love interest, and the paparazzi soon have her picture on the front page. Whilst Chris is falling in love with Marisa, she cannot bear to reveal that she is neither wealthy nor sophisticated, but merely a maid in service at his hotel.
I will not spoil the ending of the movie for those who have not yet seen it, but as you may suspect there are very few surprises to be found. The ending of the movie is in little doubt after the first reel, and this inevitability is the weakest aspect of this production. Chris falls in love with Marisa after the briefest of meetings, and whilst she is rather pretty, his immediate infatuation is somewhat excessive. Lopez puts in a good solid performance but Fiennes simply 'phones his in - frequently looking slightly embarrassed to be there. There is nothing really new to see in this film. There is nothing here to challenge or offend your sensibilities. It is a cookie-cutter romantic comedy, albeit well filmed, well acted and entertaining enough. It is not, however, in the same league as Pretty Woman, and Fiennes and Lopez do not generate anywhere near as much as chemistry as Julia Roberts and Richard Gere managed in the earlier movie.
Interestingly, the screenplay is credited to one Edmond Dantes - in reality this is a pseudonym for one John Hughes. Hughes has turned out some variable product in his time from the excellent Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Planes, Trains and Automobiles to the very mediocre Dennis the Menace. Presumably he was less than happy with having himself associated with Maid in Manhattan, although I do not see why. Whilst this film is a little derivative, it does provide some inoffensive family entertainment. It's not going to win him any Oscars, but I certainly wouldn't consider it an embarrassment. Recommended viewing for when you need to feel good and don't want to think too hard about sub-texts and deeper meanings.
Rating:
Summary: Just another chick flick
Review: Says another astute moviegoer at the conclusion of Maid in Manhattan "Well, it was almost as good as The Wedding Planner." Couldn't have said it better myself. For many viewers, the modernized Cinderella story never gets old, no matter how often or how badly it is retold. Some critics believe this is a well made formula picture. I strongly disagree and firmly believe there is no such thing as a well made formula picture, and such a statement is a contradiction. Thankfully I'm not alone among critics at least, as Maid scored a paltry 37% on the Tomatometer. Sadly it did lead the box-office this weekend with $19 million, J-lo's best ever, leaving her prior $17 million debut in The Cell in the dust. It also surpassed The Wedding Planner's opening of $13.5 million, so it would seem, my fellow moviegoer was not 100% correct.
The plot is exceedingly simple: J-lo is a hard working, single-mom princess in a maid's outfit from the PJs of Brooklyn trying to get a break in the apparently racist and sexist world of high end Manhattan 4-star hotels. Fiennes is a dapper, apparently wealthy, politician who is staying in the hotel she works at. And through a series of idiot misunderstandings, Fiennes becomes infatuated with J-lo and her tell-it-like-it-be-giiiirlfriend attitude. Romanticism and comedy ensue (in theory).
In practice the film was very poorly written and painfully predictable. The direction and cinematography were as unoriginal and uninspired as the rest of the film, which seems fitting. Production wise, it had that spotless, soap commercial quality where even the grimy streets of Brooklyn look freshly painted. Acting was just plain bad overall.
J-lo was at least believable in her role, stereotypical as it is (at least she doesn't overact her parts). Fiennes and his politician with a heart of gold who just wants to do the right thing if only he knew what that was is so ridiculous it was about the only thing I found funny in the whole film. A politician with a conscience? -can't happen. Bob Hoskins, an otherwise fine actor, finds himself in the role of a senior butler in the hotel who attempts to take J-lo under his wizened wing and teach her the ropes. He fills the role well, but makes an inexplicably long and arduous speech near the end of the film, something about the honor of service while never forgetting "they" are not better than you or something. It might have worked in a better film, but here is just seemed out of place. Finally, young Tyler plays the precocious Son of J-Lo and does a fine job for a child actor. His best scene comes in the elevator with Fiennes where he surprises the unexpecting adults with his uncommon knowledge of politics. Otherwise he does his part looking cute and wide eyed the rest of the movie without sickening the audience.
The worst part about Maid is its most obvious of contradictions. In Maid, and so many movies like it, "good" characters are equated with being poor to middle class, hardworking salt of the earth types. And conversely, "bad" characters are rich, lazy, scheming, and generally rude to good and bad people alike. But we the audience are asked to accept that such a good character such as J-Lo would even be capable of falling in love with a member of this opposite class. Perhaps with some time and some initial struggling, but in Maid and other films it happens almost automatically. The audience generally roots for this to happen, yet the logic of the characterization dictates that once the good/poor character gains the wealth of their love interest that they are likely to be corrupted themselves. People with money are almost universally portrayed negatively in such films, yet we are asked at the same time to believe that our protagonist should seek out such a life.
Rating:
Summary: A new take on the Cinderella theme
Review: After this movie received such terrible reviews, it took me a while to watch this film. I'm glad I watched it, and the movie is not bad at all. I was actually quite surprised by how enjoyable this movie was. Granted it's predictable, but it's a good sweet film. It's one I would consider watching again. Ty really stole the movie. He was too cute!!!
Jennifer Lopez plays Marisa Ventura. She is a single mother who works as a maid in a Manhattan hotel. Marisa actually would like to apply for a management position, but she has doubts, and her mother is not helpful where encouragement is concerned. Marisa is cleaning the room of a rich man hungry woman and tries on some of the outfits in her closet. Christopher Hall who is running for the Senate runs into Maria's adorable son in the elevator at the hotel she works at, and he takes Ty to see her so he can ask permission to walk with Hall and his dog. They meet, mistaken identity, and love at first site. That's when the problems and the fun begin. Marisa ends up getting to know him a little, and they begin to date. Hall is totally enamored with Marisa. He likes that she is not only beautiful, but intelligent, and she has her own opinions. The rich woman whose room she was cleaning notices something is amiss because she can't get the Halls attention, and when she discovers a missing piece of jewelry on Marisa's neck reports her to management, and Marisa looses her job.
Natasha Richardson is quite funny as a rich, but annoying Caroline, and her friend played by Amy Sidaris is even more annoying. I liked how they discussed some of the serotypes that are in the Latino community. For example: "Why are you asking her, she can't even speak English!". Just because Marisa is Latino it was assumed she could not speak English, and that's wrong, but sadly it's common. I was very happy when Marisa stood up to her mother and went after her career goals. I mean why settle, when you can do something that will be better? The dress Marissa wore to the fund raiser event was simply gorgeous!! Jennifer Lopez is simply a beautiful, beautiful woman. This is a great film. It's a sweet film. If you already own Pretty Woman, and watch this on the same night you will have an enjoyable evening. I know I did!!!
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